Ham Radio Operators - What is the best hand held unit to buy? Input please.

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www.lightfootmilitia.com

hand held is not very powerful.

For a bug out radio, if you have the money, look for a Yaesu FT-897D

[link to www.yaesu.com]

It's complete, portable, doing all band. You even have a battery pack in option to go in the field.

It's a complete radio, but maybe heavy.

anyway, have a look.

A D104 is held in you're hand. I always liked the Golden Eagle.

Alinko DJ_v5 2 band vhf and uhf. With AA batt. Pack Back up option.
Or any updated Alinko DJ_v anything 2 band. Great sound too.
Ezzzzzy to program too. KJ4HUM

Thanks, looking now. So hand held is useless pretty much or what? This thing looks a little heavy, but useless is useless I guess.

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I know this maybe isn't practical for you. But you might consider an old "boat anchor".

I used to have a Yaesu Ft 101E set up.

There are very heavy. (30 lbs.) but they have a carry handle and were designed to be portable.

You can run them on either a/c voltage or 12 volts d/c current.

They are also very selective and adjustable frequency wise.

Can be used on various bands including CB.

I firmly believe that some of the older technology will prove much more useful.

You might be right about the old tech, but I can't carry that. Haha. My pack feels nice now, I don't want to add much more. Thanks though.

Thinking about getting my license...

been looking at the baofeng

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ICOM, Yaesu or Kenwood seem to be more expensive, but you usually get what you pay for. Anyone have any experience with these?

I am using the Yaesu VX-6R and absolutely LOVE it!

[link to www.yaesu.com]

With only 5 watt... u wont get too far. If you need to just chit chat with your buddy, just mile away, HT will be ok..

but if u need it for emergency use, stop thinking, buy a real one radio, not a toy ;)

For my self ive got a ft-857d with a Atas-120A antenna... perfect dream !

What kind of range you get with that thing? This other guy says these handhelds are useless.

The hand held will work fine if you just need to hit repeaters to talk to friends. If you need to go for more distance then hook it up to a better antenna say while you are in your truck. I did that for the first year I had
My tech lic. Get a 1/2 wave 2 band antenna for you car or truck and use it when you are on the rd. It will get the signal out there far enough for you then slip the smaller one back on when you are on foot. But do get a 2 band Ht or hand held so you will be able to hit more repeaters. If you know what you are doing you can talk clear accross the U.S. on repeaters with a hand held ham radio. KJ4HUM

Not quite sure I understand the repeater part. Are there repeaters set out in random spots across the country? Are there maps of this for British Columbia? Tried to look, but get funny results.